Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Buffalo Chicken Stromboli

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded 
  • ¼ cup crumbled blue or feta cheese 
  • 4 Tablespoons Buffalo Chicken Wing sauce 
  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese 
  • 1 refrigerated pizza crust 

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Stir the chicken, blue or feta cheese and sauce in a medium bowl.
3. Unfold the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 10x14-inch rectangle.
4. With the short side facing you, spoon the chicken mixture down the center of the dough. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
5. Fold 2 opposite sides of the dough to the center over the filling and press to seal. Place the dough, seam-side down, onto a baking sheet. Tuck the ends under to seal.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
7. Cut in quarters to serve.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Barbeque Nachos


Ingredients:

  • 1 bag tortilla chips 
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder 
  • 6 ounces chopped pork, beef or chicken 
  • 1/2 cup barbeque sauce 
  • 1/2 cup nacho cheese, melted 
  • 1 (4-ounce) can sliced jalapenos, drained 

Directions:
1. Mound tortilla chips in a pile on a platter.
2. Sprinkle with onion powder.
3. Spread chopped pork, beef or chicken on top of chips. Pour the barbeque sauce onto meat.
4. Top with the melted nacho cheese.
5. Top with jalapenos.


Friday, January 25, 2013

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 
  • 1/2 cup sugar 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1 tsp. vanilla 
  • 1 tbsp. honey 
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
  • 1 tsp. baking soda 
  • 1/8 tsp. cinnamon 
  • 1/2 tsp. salt 
  • 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats 
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, honey and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
3. In a separate medium sized bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix just until incorporated.
4. Stir in oats until evenly distributed. Transfer dough to a large mixing bowl (this is so you can use stand mixer bowl for the frosting) and chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator and drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet (or even a bit smaller for smaller cookies).
6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes just until the edges start to brown. Cookies will seem moist in the middle but they will set up. Cool on baking sheet until set and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. Once cool, on the underside of one cookie spread the marshmallow frosting and top with another cookie. Store cookies in an airtight container.


Marshmallow Frosting

Ingredients:
  • 2 egg whites 
  • 1/2 cup sugar 
  • 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar 
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla 
Directions:
1. In a double boiler, add egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar and heat over simmering water. Whisking frequently, heat until egg whites become very frothy and sugar is dissolved (approx. 160 degrees).
2. Carefully add egg mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
3. Whisk on high speed for several minutes until egg mixture will hold stiff peaks and is light in texture.
4. Carefully fold in vanilla until incorporated. Add frosting to cookie and then top with another cookie. Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Buttermilk Cornbread


Ingredients:
  • 1 ½ cups buttermilk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup fresh corn kernels
  • 1-½ cups fine yellow cornmeal
  • 1-cup all-purpose flour 
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl; stir in corn.
3. Stir together cornmeal and flour; gradually whisk flour mixture into buttermilk mixture. Whisk in melted butter.
4. Pour batter into a buttered 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
5. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour).

Friday, January 18, 2013

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes


Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
5 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup egg substitute or egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (2.6-ounce) bar dark (71% cocoa) chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons powdered sugar


Directions:
1. Sift together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. Place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars, beating until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating until well blended.
3. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture; fold in chocolate. Divide batter evenly among 8 (4-ounce) ramekins; arrange ramekins on a jelly-roll pan. 

4. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or up to 2 days.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Let ramekins stand at room temperature 10 minutes.
7. Uncover and bake for 20 minutes or until cakes are puffy and slightly crusty on top. 

8. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar; serve immediately.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Pecan Pie Muffins


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 
  • 1 cup chopped pecans 
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt 
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted 
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Directions:
1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Stir together butter, eggs, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients, and stir just until moistened.
2. Spoon batter evenly into lightly greased 24 miniature muffin pans, filling three-fourths full.
3. Bake at 425° for 8 to 10 minutes.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Cornflake Crusted Chicken

Ever wish you could take some of the calories out of one of our southern favorites, fried chicken? While this might not be exactly what the Colonel had in mind, it's still moist and full of flavor!


Cornflake Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:

  • Cooking spray
  • 2 to 3 shakes hot sauce, such as Tabasco, optional
  • 1 cup buttermilk, well shaken
  • 4 cups cornflake crumbs
  • 8 assorted chicken pieces, skin on
  • Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray the foil with cooking spray.
3. Shake the hot sauce into the buttermilk and pour into a shallow dish. Place the cornflake crumbs in another shallow dish.
4. Dip each piece of chicken in the buttermilk, and then roll it in the crumbs. Place the coated chicken pieces on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Bake the chicken until the crust is golden brown and the meat is no longer pink at the bone, about 1 hour. Check this with the point of a sharp knife.
6. Remove the pieces from the pan and serve while the chicken is warm.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Hello Dolly Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium boil. Press mixture onto bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake 8 minutes.
Sprinkle pecans, chocolate morsels, and coconut over hot crust. Pour condensed milk over top (do not stir).
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned and edges are bubbly. Let cool on a wire rack for one hour. Cut into bars.

Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
8 ounces sour cream
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sour cream, and sugar. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla.
In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa. Add 1/2 the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beat well, add the remaining 1/2 flour mixture, and continue to beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. 4.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes if necessary, but do not open the oven to check the cake for at least 1 hour.

Slow Cooker Barbeque Ribs

Ingredients:
4 pounds pork baby back ribs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups ketchup
1 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 dash hot sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over, and brown another 15 minutes; drain fat.
In a medium bowl, mix together the ketchup, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, and hot sauce. Season with alt and pepper to taste.
Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs, and turn to coat.
Cover, and cook on low 6 to 8 hours, or until ribs are tender.

Sweet Potato Tart with Pecan Crust and Toasted Marshmallows

Ingredients for Crust:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons butter, melted

Ingredients for Filling:
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes (about one large potato)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves 

Ingredients for Topping:
1 cup miniature marshmallows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the work bowl of the food processor, combine pecans, graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and cinnamon for crust. Pulse until mixture is crumbly. Add melted butter, pulsing just until mixture is moistened. Press crust mixture evenly into a 9-inch tart pan or pie plate. Place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.
In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, eggs, brown sugar, melted butter, cream, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for filling. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until combined. Pour filing over cooled crust.
Bake until filling sets, approximately 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
Increase heat in oven to broil. Arrange marshmallows on top of tart. Broil until lightly toasted, 1 to 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn marshmallows.

Corny Cornbread Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
1 egg
1 teaspoon bakiang powder
1 (8 ounce) sour cream
½ cup cooking oil
1 small can of whole kernel corn, undrained

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray muffin pan with cooking spray.
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Pour batter into muffin pan, filling about half full.
Bake for 15 -20 minutes, until golden brown.

Peanut Butter Banana Pudding Trifle

Ingredients:
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (3.4 ounce) boxes vanilla instant pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream
5 medium-size ripe bananas
1 (1 pound) package peanut butter sandwich cookies (suggested: Nutter Butter)
2 cups whipped topping
Garnish with extra peanut butter sandwich cookies

Directions:

Place milk and vanilla in a large bowl; add pudding mixes. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for two minutes or until thickened; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in sour cream.
Cut bananas into ¼ inch slices. Break cookies into halves.
Spoon half of pudding mixture into trifle bowl. Top with half of bananas and then half of cookies. Spoon remaining pudding mixture and top with remaining bananas and cookies. Add whipped topping.
Garnish with extra cookies. Cover and chill for at least two hours.

Nana’s Pecan Pie

Ingredients:
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup white corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 of a stick of butter, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1 pie shell, unbaked

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat eggs and syrup together; adding sugar, butter, vanilla and pecans. Stir well.
Pour into pie shell and bake for 45 to 55 minutes.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Chicken Enchilada Casserole


Ingredients:

  • 3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces 
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes, drained 
  • 1 large can yellow or white corn, drained 
  • 1 cup sour cream (more if desired) 
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese, reserve ½ cup to sprinkle on top 
  • 8 tortillas 
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. Cook chicken in skillet with a little olive oil. Drain. 
  3. Put cooked chicken in a large bowl; add tomatoes, corn, sour cream and cheese. Mix well. 
  4. Put mixture in tortillas and roll up tightly. 
  5. Lay tortillas in a row in a greased 9x13 inch casserole dish. 
  6. If you have some filling left over, just sprinkle on top of tortillas and cover with cheese. 
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. 
  8. Serve with salsa and/or sour cream.

Jambalaya

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ pound smoked sausage, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
Salt and Cajun seasoning to taste
1 cup white rice, uncooked
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 cups chicken broth
3 bay leaves
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined 

Directions:
Heat oil in large Dutch oven. Add sausage and cook 2 minutes. Add onions and celery and season with salt and Cajun seasoning. Cook until soft, about 6-8 minutes.
Add rice and stir to coat evenly. Add the tomatoes with juice, garlic, bay leaves and broth. Cover and cook over medium heat 20 minutes.
Add shrimp to pot and cook 10 more minutes covered. Let stand 5 minutes, remove bay leaves and serve.

Fabulous Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
1 red apple, cored and chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 (8 ounce) container nonfat lemon yogurt 

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine red apple, Granny Smith apple, oranges, celery, dried cranberries, and pecans.
Mix in yogurt. Chill until ready to serve.

Brown Sugar Smokies

Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package little smokie sausages
1 pound bacon
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, or to taste 

 Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large resealable bag, put ½ cup brown sugar, bacon and sausages. Shake to cover bacon and sausages.
Cut bacon into thirds and wrap each strip around a little sausage. Place the wrapped sausages on wooden skewers, several to a skewer. Arrange the skewers on a baking sheet and sprinkle them liberally with brown sugar.
Bake until bacon is crisp and the brown sugar melted; about 45 minutes.
Can prepare the night before and cover tightly; then bake when ready to serve.